Bob Beauprez

Bob Beauprez served the 7th Congressional district of Colorado from 2003-2007

Robert L. Beauprez was a Republican member of the House of Representatives representing the 7th District of Colorado (map) from 2003-2007. He declined to run for reelection in 2006 to pursue the governorship of Colorado. He was defeated in that race by Democrat Bill Ritter.

Bio

Beauprez was born September 22, 1948 in Lafayette, Colorado. He earned a B.S. from the University of Colorado, and when he finished in 1970, went into the family dairy farming business. After his father and brother retired from farming in 1990, Beauprez bought a local bank, which has since expanded from one location to a dozen.[1]

Beauprez narrowly won his seat by 129 votes in the 2002 election.

Beauprez is a Republican candidate in Colorado's 2006 gubernatorial race, and has been endorsed in the Republican primary by sitting governor Bill Owens. His chief opponent was Marc Holtzman. On October 3, 2005, Holtzman accused Beauprez's campaign of stealing a "detailed list of Holtzman's friends and business associates." Beauprez's camp denied the charges. [2] Beauprez has also found himself saddled with the nickname "Both Ways Bob" after being accused by the Holtzman campaign of avoiding taking a stand on Referendum C, a Colorado ballot issue involving tax refunds.

Controversy

Tom DeLay's ARMPAC

Beauprez was a recipient of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's ARMPAC campaign contributions. DeLay is being prosecuted on charges of felony money laundering of campaign finances and conspiracy to launder money. To date, Beauprez has not offered to return or donate to charity any of the $30,000 he received, despite calls to do so.[4]

Federal investigation

During Beauprez's 2006 gubernatorial campaign, the FBI began investigating whether he accessed a restricted federal database for information used in a television ad to attack his Democratic challenger, Bill Ritter. [5]

The ad suggested Ritter, a former Denver district attorney, accepted a plea bargain with an illegal immigrant arrested in Colorado who was later accused of sexually assaulting a child in California. The ad emphasized that the plea bargain did not require deportation. [6]

State investigators, acting on accusations of wrongdoing by Ritter's campaign, concluded the information came from the National Crime Information Center, a federal database for which only law enforcement has access. At that point, the FBI launched its own investigation. Using the database for any purpose other than law enforcement is a federal crime which carries a punishment of up to one-year in prison. [7]

The investigation is being conducted by the Justice Department's office in Cheyenne, Wyo. It was moved from the U.S. attorney's office in Denver, Colo., where it began, after authorities learned that a Denver-area federal agent may have been involved. [8]